Admissions Policy

RISELEY C. OF E. LOWER SCHOOL

 

 

ADMISSIONS POLICY YEAR OF ENTRY 2010-11

 

 

RECEPTION YEAR 

 

(the Nursery has a separate admissions policy) 

 

 

 

INTRODUCTION.

 

 

 

Riseley C. of E. Lower School is a Voluntary Aided Church of England School within the Diocese of St Albans in the county of Bedfordshire. The governing body of the school is the admission authority.   The Governors will admit up to the planned admission number of 28 children to the Reception year group during each academic year. The Governing Body is required to abide by the maximum limits for infant classes (5, 6 and 7 year olds), ie 30 pupils per class.

 

 

 

	Your Child’s Birthday	Start Date
Intake 1	1 Sept 2005 – 31 December 2005	Full-time September 2010
Intake 2	1 January 2006 - 31 August 2006	Part-time September 2010* full-time January 2011

*Five morning sessions 9 – 12noon

 

 

 

The Local Authority (LA) operates a timetabled co-ordinated admissions procedure in line with government legislation. The LA will manage the process on behalf of the school according to the scheme published each year. The Governing Body, as the Admission Authority, will allocate the available places in line with this policy.

 

 

 

The closing date for admission application forms to be received by the LA is (to be decided).

 

Please note that the information in this policy is correct for the year shown. Policies for future years may well be different.

 

 

 

HOW PLACES ARE OFFERED

 

 

 

Children who have a Statement of Special Educational Needs in which the school is named will be offered a place at the school.  

 

 

 

In the event of there being more applications than available places the following oversubscription criteria will be applied, in order:

 

 

 

Category 1      Children in public care (Looked after Children). 

 

 

 

Category 2      On ‘very exceptional’ medical grounds. 

 

 

 

Category 3      Children who have a sibling who will be attending the school at the time of entry.

 

 

Category 4      Children who at the time of application are living within that part of the area of the Ecclesiastical parish of Riseley with Bletsoe and Stodden excluding the villages of Upper Dean, Lower Dean and Shelton. 

 

 

 

Category 5      Children whose home address is outside the area as defined in Category 4 above, one or more of whose parents/guardians have, at the time of application, shown commitment to the Church of England or another Christian Church by attending a service at least once a month for the year prior to an application being made. Applicants in this category will need to ask their priest or minister to complete the relevant section of the application form, which should be signed by the priest or minister.

 

 

Category 6.     Children in our nursery. 

 

 

 

Category 7.     Any other children.

 

 

 

Where the application of the above criteria results in a situation where there are more children with an equal right to admission to the school than the number of available places, the tie-break will be distance from the school , measured using the computerised mapping system operated by the LA as described in the booklet ‘Starting School’.   The distance will be measured from the address point of the pupil’s home to the front gate of the school.

 

 

DEFINITIONS

 

 

In respect of the following, the governors use the same definitions as the Local Authority (LA), set out in their booklet ‘ Starting School’.

 

 

1. Category 1   “Looked After Children”.

    

2. Category 2 “Very Exceptional” Medical Grounds.

    

3. Category 3 “Sibling”

    

4. Categories 4 and 5 “Home Address”

    

   

 

Category 5 “Christian Church”.

 

The governors define a ‘Christian’ Church to be one which is a member, or is eligible for membership, of Churches Together in England or the Evangelical Alliance.

 

 

 

 

UNSUCCESSFUL APPLICATIONS.

 

 

 

Appeals.
Parents who have not been allocated a place for their child in the reception class have the right of appeal to an independent panel. If they wish to take this step they should notify their intention to the Clerk of appeals, County Hall, Bedford, c/o the Headteacher, within three weeks of the refusal letter. The LA will explain the procedure to you if this situation arises.

 

Continuing interest (waiting) list.
In the event of more applications than available places the governors will maintain a continuing interest list (waiting list). These and late applications will go onto this list in a position determined by the criteria. If a place becomes available in the school it will be offered to the child that best meets the published admission rules.
Parents are requested to inform the governors if they wish their child’s name to be removed. The governors will maintain the list until October 31^st 2010.

 

 

 

IN YEAR ADMISSIONS

 

 

 

Requests for admissions to the school to other year groups should be made direct to the school.  If a place cannot be offered, parents should contact the LA admissions team at the school admissions Service, County Hall, Bedford.   All ‘In Year’ admissions to the school will be made in line with the Local Authority’s coordinated admissions scheme and fair access protocol.

 

 

EXCEPTIONS, WHICH MAY RESULT IN THE ADMISSIONS NUMBER FOR THE SCHOOL BEING EXCEEDED

 

 

The admission of pupils in accordance with the In-Year Fair Access Protocol (children who have been ‘excluded from other local schools, and others with challenging behaviour if a place cannot be achieved through the normal admissions process’ (DCSF Guidance Notes).

 

 

 

ADMISSIONS PROCEDURE

 

 

For children born between 1 September 2005 and 31 August 2006 application forms and booklets will be available from the school in June 2009 for a school place in September 2010.

 

 

 

Applications for places can be made online at www.bedfordshire.gov.uk/onlineadmissions or completed application forms should be returned to the Local Authority through the Admissions Service Enquiries on 01234 718120. The Local Authority will notify parents in December.

 

 

 

Application forms can be obtained from the school office at any time for places in other year groups. These also should be returned to the school.